Path of Exile 2 Ritual guide

Ritual Altar in Path of Exile 2 (Image via GGG)

Ritual is a league mechanic added to the core endgame of Path of Exile 2. Players will get accustomed to the Ritual during the early hours of the campaign, when everyone must head to Freythorn and defeat the King in the Mists for Spirit. However, the endgame version of this small fight goes very deep, with multiple currencies, loot, and strategies coming into the mix.

This article lists all the basics related to the Ritual in Path of Exile 2.

Complete Ritual guide in Path of Exile 2

How to start

Rituals on maps can be encountered if you have the "Ritual" icon on top of the node — it's a red circle with horns. Having this icon means the tileset will have a guaranteed chance of spawning Ritual Altars. This can be enhanced using Atlas Skill Point and Precursor Tablets.

Ritual icon on maps in Path of Exile 2 (Image via GGG)

A Ritual Altar can be identified by the white marker on the ground and an Altar in the middle of the mark. This is similar to the ones from Freythorn in Act I. Defeat the enemies inside the mark and then activate the Altar by touching it. Doing so will start a fight, where you must hold out against waves of enemies. The marked area will be closed off from the outside, so you must stay inside the circle and fight.

Fight inside the white mark on the ground (Image via GGG)

Defeating enemies during the fight will accumulate Tributes. The number of Tributes can be seen at the bottom of the screen, and the available Altars inside a map can be viewed at the bottom right.

Tribute and Altars in Path of Exile 2 (Image via GGG)

Once all enemies are defeated, the area outside the circle will open up, and the Altar will now grant special currencies, gear pieces, and a key to the Pinnacle boss.

Altar inventory in Path of Exile 2 (Image via GGG)

The availability of each item is randomized.

Currencies

There are three exclusive currencies for the Ritual mechanic: Tributes, Omens, and Audience with the King. Here's what each of them do, and how to get them.

Tributes: Tributes will be given to you for every enemy you kill inside the Ritual white circle.
Omens: Crafting currencies exclusive to the Ritual mechanic. You can find them inside the Altar inventory after defeating an enemy wave. This lets players choose specific modifiers while crafting. For example, an Omen of Sinistral Annulment will remove only prefix modifiers from an item when an Orb of Annulment is applied.
Audience with the King: The only currency that will allow you to access the pinnacle boss fight, King in the Mists. You can find this item inside the Ritual Altar inventory after defeating enemy waves. Simply put this on the map's Realmgate and go through the portal for the boss fight.

However, some of these currencies are expensive and require quite a bit of Tribute. This is where the Defer mechanic comes into play.

Defer

Since the rewards are randomized in the Ritual Altar, you can always sacrifice some of your Tributes to make the item/currency appear. However, doing so will drain you out of Tributes, and you won't have enough to purchase even if it does appear after rerolling. That is when you Defer that item.

"Deferring" an item marks it, guaranteeing its spawn on a following Ritual map with a discounted price. For example, presumably, you've rerolled the Altar rewards and got an "Audience with the King" but don't have enough Tribute to purchase it.

Hence, you Defer that item and look for it on the next map. If the price after the discount is still not manageable, you can Defer it again and keep doing so until the price comes down to your preferred range.

The same Quarterstaff in a new map with the discount rate (Image via GGG)

Note that "Deferring" an item cuts a "Tribute tax" from the purse. Each Altar in a map has progressively larger mob packs, allowing you to get more Tributes.

You can use Ritual Precursor tablets to get additional maps with a guaranteed chance of Ritual encounters. Refer to our complete guide on Precursor Tablets for more information.

For Atlas tree, go for Ominous Portents first, followed by Tempting Offers. Both these nodes will require a solid build for your character. However, there will be increased chances of Omens appearing in the Altar inventory. These Omens are valuable items in the market, allowing you to exchange them for Exalted Orbs.

Ritual skill points can be obtained by defeating King in the Mists, so you must first defeat the pinnacle boss at least twice to get the four points.

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Edited by Angad Sharma